Hard Times
by MysticHeero
Summary: Its always hard to lose a loved one. But when you are young and don't really understand it, the pain is relived as you grow to the knowledge that they are gone. A child needs their mother while growing up, especially after the horrors of seeing her killed
1. Default Chapter

**Title: Hard Times**

**Author:** MysticHeero

**Chapter: **One: Lost

**Summary:** It's amazing how young children can change a situation just by a mere word or expression.

**Author's Notes:** Legolas is only a tiny three years old, but is also small for his age. There isn't any slash in this fic, so sorry slash fans. Hith'lain is Legolas' mother in this.

**Dedication:** I'm dedicating this ficcy to Scotty-Lass and her little brother Jay as without them I have no knowledge of children. I was the youngest in my family.

**Warnings:** Character death, but its not too heavy.

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Hith'lain smiled as she watched the antics of her youngest child. Legolas was only just turned three and this would be his first visit to Imladris. He was seated on the horse in front of her, currently jumping around trying to get the mount to hurry up, and Hith'lain couldn't help but chuckle at his antics. The mare, named Uuriglos, was used to Legolas riding with his mother and despite the fact the child was wildly flapping the reins about the horse continued with her steady pace along the rocky path.

"Go faster?" Legolas looked up imploringly at his mother with the request and the Silvan queen dropped a kiss on his brow.

"Not just yet sweetie. When we are out of the mountains and on flatter lands." She told him gently, making a mental note to discourage both her husband and older children from racing about with Legolas on their horses. They thought she didn't know about their rides in the woods, but Legolas was quite good at trying to get what he wanted and often took the argument of "but Ada does." Thranduil denied it all but Legolas never lied, so he was caught on the loosing side of the arguments a lot.

"Please?" Legolas tried again, this time adding the sweetest smile he could muster. Unfortunately, for him, his mother was immune to such emotional blackmail, unlike the King.

"Do you want the rest of your lunch Las?" Hith'lain deflected the plea and Legolas scowled, knowing his mother wouldn't listen.

"No." he said glumly, and turned his attention to the passing mountainside with wide attentive eyes. Knowing her last child only too well, the Queen of Eryn Galen pulled out the remains of Legolas' lunch from her saddle bags. She held a piece of Lambas in front of Legolas' eyes and waited for him to take it, munching on it happily.

They were five and a half days into the trip now and only four days at the most from their destination. Legolas had been very well behaved considering this was his first trip outside of Eryn Galen and Hith'lain knew it must be boring for him. He was, really, still too young to be travelling like this but he had successfully convinced all his family into letting him go. All it had taken was a near-four hour long tantrum and lots of crying for the royal family to give into their guilty feelings. The queen chuckled at the memory. They were all strict when it came to raising Legolas, for the fact it was so incredibly easy to give in to his wants. Between his big blue eyes and innocent looking face the elfling could get anything out of almost anyone, especially the cooks – which would be the reason behind Legolas' siblings repeatedly taking him to the kitchens for sugary treats and biscuits.

One of the guards up ahead called for the captain of their small company, and the Queen became alert to her surroundings, in hope of sensing what may be wrong. There was something that made her tense, but everyone was on edge more than they normally would, because of the young prince in their midst, who was watching those around him in confusion, as he did not understand their actions. Hith'lain pulled Legolas further up in the saddle, holding him closer to her protectively, and moved her thick fur-lined riding cloak to shield him from view. The horses became restless, nickering nervously as they picked up their pace without any need of encouragement by their riders. This worried the queen further, with the animals also sensing something amiss, and she pricked up her senses as best she could, carefully scanning their surroundings continuously.

The elfling began to squirm, at being held so securely under his mother's cloak, and Hith'lain looked down at him to find her son was staring up at her with wide questioning blue eyes.

"Shhh Las. Just stay still for a minute, alright." She pleaded quietly with her last child.

"Nana?" Came the tiny reply, an undertone of worry and confusion evident in his voice, and the elfling moved to peep out of the cloak wrapped around him snugly.

There was a silence for a while, as no living thing dared make a noise, and then it happened. From well concealed entrances, orcs poured out of their holes down the small slope, towards the small elven company without pause. As the first orcs made it to the horses the elves had already drawn weapons and their blades clashed with the dark, impure metal of orcish craft. The queen clutched Legolas to her, as their guards surrounded them, shielding them from the slaughtering orcs. But they were fiercely out numbered by the dark creatures, with nothing to their advantages. Quickly the elven ranks were reducing in size, though they brought many orcs with them in death and the orcs managed to break through the small defence, spreading between their prey to attack from all sides.

Uuriglos was rearing, and kicking frantically at the enemy, trying to fend off the attacks by the orcs, without dislodging the two she bore on her back. It seemed hopeless, and it was; the queen thought, as she saw her company was cut down to only the two elves at her side. She urged Uuriglos into trying to force her way through the fray to the edge so that they could flee, but the masses of remaining orcs were too many and she felt herself being pulled from the saddle along with her tiny child. Legolas was screaming in fear and an orc violently grabbed him by the arm, dragging him from his mother's own arms, only to be temporarily thrown aside in favour of the full grown elf maid they now held captive. They viciously cut her with their blades, smiling at every scream they wretched from her until her dying breath left her. The orcs were sneering at the body of the elf, her clothing ripped and bloodstained, and they moved their attention to the crying elfling, who was looking at them wide eyed from where he had fallen on the ground. The little elf didn't understand what was going on but it was scaring him and he feared what they orcs would do. So he ran away from them, tripping and stumbling on his unsteady legs as he trued to escape from the scenes of horror around him. His arm hurt where the orc had grabbed him, and threw him aside roughly, but the pain was ignored for now as his urge to hide took over.

He dove into a bush, hoping to hide from the nasty creatures following him, and tried to stop his crying, but the pain in his arm was making itself know again. He let out a scream when he was grabbed by the back of his small child's tunic and hoisted straight out of the bush with little effort for the orc holding him, but for Legolas it had hurt as he was pulled through all the bracken above him in the bush. Now covered in scratches and deeper cuts, the young prince began his crying a new more out of fear than the painful sting. The orc dropped him on the ground carelessly and then smacked the elfling hard when the little one gave a sharp sob, before the orc quickly bound their prisoner's hands and feet together with filthy rope spotted in all manners of things. An equally filthy rag was tied about his face to silence him, though his tears still continued to course down his cheeks and he shook with

An orc spoke in their harsh speech and the group made to leave, one picking Legolas up as it passed, hauling him roughly under one arm. All the elfling could do was sob and watch in diminishing hope that everything would just be a really horrible nightmare.


	2. Scared and Broken

**Title: Hard Times**

**Author:** MysticHeero

**Chapter: **Two: Scared and Broken

**Summary:** It's amazing how young children can change a situation just by a mere word or expression.

**Author's Notes:** Legolas is only a tiny three years old, but is also small for his age. There isn't any slash in this fic, so sorry slash fans. Hith'lain is Legolas' mother in this.

**Dedication:** I'm dedicating this ficcy to Scotty-Lass and her little brother Jay as I'm basing Leggy on Jay.

**Warnings:** Brutality and beatings implied and most likely viewed.

**Disclaimer:** Mr. JRR Tolkien has the ownership of LOTR and its pretty characters. The only ones I own were in chapter one so far (i.e. Hith'lain and Uuriglos)

-

The Ranger group had been travelling through the mountains for the last two weeks, orc hunting as they went, and the weather had progressively been getting wetter. This was good, as it meant that the orcs would be easier to find, but it also meant that the rangers rode in soaking wet clothing and finding a safe cave to shelter in at night was difficult. Many of them were too deep to properly scout for danger, and others were either too small to house them all, or stank from the orc blood that they had spilt when clearing the cave. The night before had been a fairly lucky find, and the men had been able to dry out very well in the cave, which had ran deep enough for them to safely light a fire without attracting any attention. This morning had brought a fine drizzle that left them all clammy and the air humid, and it made their leathers uncomfortable to ride in, but it was soon ignored when they had picked up the trail of a fair sized band of orcs. Though it was still light out side, the bad weather and shading of the mountain range enabled the orcs to travel though at a reduced speed, and as they had no reason to think they were being followed they had little reason to increase pace at this time. They had been tracking the band for little over three hours now, with the weather growing heavier, turning into proper rain again though it still remained light at one point ,butb had seemingly stopped for now and they had closed the gap between them considerably, with the orcs being camped in a small clearing that the Rangers were currently spying on. It was mid day and the orcs had apparently stopped to eat what ever game they could catch, as there were small roasting fires spotted around the camp, some of them roasting varying degrees of meat, which was mostly unrecognised in its burnt state. How ever most of the orcs seemed to be interested in what ever game they had going; the view was blocked by the orcs calling out encouragingly to at least one other. Holman, the leader of the small ranger group, realised they must have caught some poor animal alive, and now they were torturing it for their sick pleasure. It wasn't until the Rangers picked up on small cries of pain that they realised it wasn't an animal they had but a person. That finalised things for Holman. He had thought to wait a little while, for when the orcs had eaten and grown slower before risking his men in slaying these orcs, but he could not delay when the orcs had someone alive to torture.

Signalling to his second, Holman motioned for him to go around the other side of the camp with a few men to get to the prisoner. When the fighting breaks out the orcs wouldn't waste much time in either killing the prisoner or using it as a shield – against which the Rangers could not fight. The bird call meant that the others were in position, and Holman looked to his remaining men to find them all nod in confirmation of their readiness. With a call they all charged, Holman's group ahead of his second's as to cause enough distraction to rescue the prisoner. The battle was fierce even though the orcs were caught unawares and the majority had no weapons, and the Rangers had had a hard time killing them all off as the number of orcs was nearly double that of the Rangers, but they were persistent. Even though the orcs seemed to have forgotten their prisoner, the Rangers were having trouble getting to the person through the masses of orcs and Bryant, Holman's second, was beginning to think that maybe the orcs had killed the person. That was until he felt something run into his legs. Looking down quickly, thinking it may have been a fallen orc trying to swipe at his feet, Bryant was very surprised to find it was a small child, filthy and badly hurt. The force at which the child had hit the Ranger's legs was enough to knock the little being onto the ground, and it was now trying crawl away, flinching at the feet moving heavily near its form.

Without second though Bryant reached down with one hand and lifted the child up as gently as possible without lowering his guard or speed, and hefted the child into a single armed hold against his shoulder. Using his remaining free arm, Bryant worked his way to the edge of the fray; the few men with him helping to protect both ranger and the child he carried and they soon managed to reach an area less crowded. The battle soon ended, with the Rangers suffering only a few bleeding wound and bruises, and all the orcs slain, and Bryant had his first chance to truly take in the child's condition. Though children were considerably light in comparison to men, this one was far too light for it to be healthy. Holman, having finished seeing that all his men were accounted for and safe, came over to were Bryant had settled on the grass with the child and winced at the outward state of the child; both in clothing and appearance. The child, for its part was clinging to Bryant, clearly scared, and crying uncontrollably. At the sight, despite the seriousness of the situation, Holman had to smile. Children always clung to Bryant, though the Ranger had very little experience with children and practically no knowledge of them, and the other Rangers had often commented on the fact. For his part, Bryant was looking uncomfortable, and was trying to sooth the child but seemed to be having little luck as the child would not remove its face from the crook between the man's head and shoulder.

"Well now, let's see who we have here." Holman felt worse than he had before the battle, as now he had learnt the prisoner was a child, a young one at that, but there was something about it that didn't seem right. He crouched down in front of Bryant, giving the man a small sympathetic smile, and gently moved to stroke aside the tangle of muddy hair, to obtain view of the small face. He was shocked to find a small delicately pointed ear hidden within the matted tresses, and that the small face, covered in mud, was a mass of varying bruises, cuts and grazes. He was suddenly aware that he was being watched by a small curious blue eye, and he smiled encouragingly, only to be rewarded by more of the face being revealed as the child turned his head to look at him in return. Some of the Rangers chuckled slightly at the small staring match between Holman and the elven child and waited. At last the child looked away with a watery smile, his sobs having stopped completely by now, and he hid in the crook of Bryant's neck again, suddenly shy.

"What would an elven child be doing out here all alone? Surely there must be others here some where." One of the other Rangers said quietly, so not to alarm the child.

"But how did this one get separated?" Holman thought aloud, as he tried to coax the child far enough out of Bryant's arms to get a decent look at its physical state. He managed to draw the child back enough to confirm it was definitely an elf, a male at that, and he couldn't resist smiling when the child covered his eyes with two grubby hands in a childish show of hiding. "Come now, we won't hurt you." He spoke softly in elvish, realising that the child most likely wouldn't understand the human tongue. He received a small whimper in response, but the small elfling didn't move or even withdraw when Holman made to move the child's hands from his eyes.

"What do you want us to do captain?"

"Pile the bodies and burn them. Once we are certain this one hasn't got any serious injuries we will try to find some place dry to camp for the night. Then we will attend to everyone's injuries properly." The men went about their captain's orders, while Bryant and Holman tried to attend to the child, and soon enough the small band were moving out, having collected their horses from where they had been left out of harm's way. The child still refused to leave Bryant's arms, still not entirely trusting the men, but that was to be expected after what he had been through with the orcs. Sheltering in a cave for the night, the Rangers set about making camp and beginning to treat the minor wounds some of them had gained, as well as seeing to the elfling in their company. They had no means by which to clean the child up; the little water they had was used to clean open wounds, but they had assessed that the child had no broken bones, nor did they have any clothing for the elfling to change into,. The latter didn't seem to be a problem as the little elfling had taken to wrapping himself in Bryant's oiled cloak, whether the man was wearing it or not didn't deter the wide eyed youth in the slightest. The wide blue eyes watched everything around him, from under the cover of the cloak, and it was hard for the Rangers not to smile at the antics of the little child as he struggled to watch everything around him. Though the tiny being allowed others near him, he shied away from any physical contact, asides from that of Bryant and Holman, and he nibbled on the food he was given, though it was clear that he was more than hungry.

"He is young. Too young to be travelling surely?" Bryant quietly spoke to his captain, trying to not wake the elfling who had dosed off in his arms.

"Yes, he is. Maybe Lord Elrond can figure it out." Holman said off handedly. "Rivendell is two days ride from here, and we need some supplies. Plus we can not keep the child with us; he deserves to be at least with his own kind. Our life is not fit for a child of any age."

"Aye. He also needs proper treatment. We do not know how badly he is hurt, and I don't just mean physically." The younger man softly soothed down the muddy hair of the sleeping elfling in an almost distracted manner, and Holman found himself smiling at his second's actions. The man may not have much of an idea in regarding children, but it looked so natural when you saw him with them you wouldn't believe his protests against it.

"Get some rest. We will be leaving early on the morrow if we are to reach Rivendell soonest. Don't worry about anything else; I want you to care for the child. He doesn't seem to trust anyone else overly much." Giving his second a soft look, Holman stood up and headed for his own bedroll. They had an early morning tomorrow.

-

The ranger group were only an hour away from the Hidden Vale, and it was still raining miserably. Bryant may have a natural ability with children, but he was fighting a loosing battle in trying to keep the child dry, underneath his cloak. Every time he covered the child up, the small elfling would wriggle out of it back into the rain.

Holman glanced at Bryant, and smiled at his friend's situation. His second had given up on keeping the child dry, and now the little one was sitting contently in front of Bryant, playing with his horse's mane, completely oblivious to how wet he was getting. Catching Holman's attention, Bryant threw him a pained look.

"Lord Elrond is going to kill me for this you are aware. Especially if the child catches cold."

"I'll try to keep him from causing any lasting damage." Holman soothed, earning a glare off his friend, while the rest of the rangers chuckled at their companion's situation.

**-**

**Review responses**

**-**

**Beloved Fool** _Bint_! Who are you calling a bint? I was tempted not to update, just to spite you, but Helen you are fortunate that I have received a good response from other NICER people. Why do I put up with you? Just kidding "Aya-chan"

**Peter:** Thank you. Hope you enjoy

**Haldir's heart and Soul:** Couldn't resist mate, but it gets better…. soon. Sadly no Karl Urban in this one. Though Xena keeps coming to mind. Hee hee. In concern of Battering Passage I didn't really plan it to be more than one chapter for it, but I shall try to write another bit. If not under that name then something else. Hmmm…. How can I do that? Oh I know just answer me five things in your review. **1: Pairing** (though I think we both know who that will be); **2: A place related to LOTR world**; **3:** **Another character** that does not have to be related to the pairing – for instance Frodo could pop into the fic in a random place for absolutely no reason; **4: A smell**, you decide if it is nasty or nice and what it is; AND **5: A random object, word or phrase**. List their numbers so I know which is which. Thankies and keep watching. Well reading. Keep watching Karl though. melts cupid

**Paraniod Penguin** Hey Lou. Tissue?

**Scotty-Lass:** Dawny! What did you mean by "MY poor 'las"? Legolas is the property of Haldir! At least I like to think so. Or Glorfindel or the twins. I'm mean to little Legolas I know, but then again I'm mean to all my favourite characters regardless of their age. Hee hee.

**MidKnightDragonz** There you go.

**Mrs. Bloom:** Heh heh, well I suppose I could write more.

**Fluffy's fangirls** Interesting name me darlin' but that's beside the point. I don't know what the point is exactly but still. Hope you liked the chappy.

**Legosgurl:** LOTS OF CAPITALS. Woooh. Thankies very much.

**astalder27** Thranduil is in the next chapter.


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